Tennis-Jack socks it to Raonic at Memphis International

February 21, 2013|Reuters

Feb 20 (Reuters) - Young American Jack Sock stunned in-form world number 14 Milos Raonic with a 6-3 5-7 7-5 victory to provide the first major upset of the Memphis International tournament on Wednesday.

Big-serving second seed Raonic was coming off his third straight San Jose Open title but was unable to recapture that form in his first round match against his 20-year-old opponent.

Wildcard Sock, ranked 168th in the world, was able to match Raonic's serve and finished with 11 aces to the Canadian's 12 in a match that featured just three service breaks.

The final set was tied at 5-5 but Sock grabbed a late break before finishing off the duel in two hours and 10 minutes.

In other action, former world number one Lleyton Hewitt showed his grit by fending off a pair of match points in the second set before overcoming Taiwan's Lu Yen-Hsun 2-6 7-6 6-4.

After dropping the opening set, Hewitt went up 4-1 in the second before momentum completely swung against him.

The Australian has never been one to shirk a challenge, however, and showed he still has mettle to spare, even if he was aided by seven Lu double-faults.

Germany's Tommy Haas, who lost to Raonic in the San Jose final last week, was also a winner, 7-6 6-4 over Russia's Evgeny Donskoy.